Forging-blank for hollow-handled cutlery



(No Model.)

W. H. OHAPIN. FORGING BLANK FOR HOLLOW HANDLED GUTLEEY.

No. 445,659. Paten ted'Feb. 3, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEioE.

\VILLIAM H. OHAPIN, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

FORGlNG-BLANK FOR HOLLOW-HANDLED CUTLERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,659, dated February3, 1891.

Application filed February 26, 1890. Serial No. 341,894. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern- Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. CHAPIN, acitizen of the United States, residing at T0- ledo, in the county ofLucas and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements inForging-Blanks for Hollow-Handled Outlerv, of which the following isaspecification.

This invention relates to cutlery and analogous implements, andparticularly to improved means for making the same with hollod metallichandles which are integral with the blade or implement; and theinvention consists in providing an improved forgingblank from which toforge said implement, containing within itself the requisite parts toform the blade or the implement and a solidsided or seamless metallichandle therefor, all as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out inthe claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figures land 3 areplan views of forg ing-blanks for hollow-handled implements constructedaccording to my invention. 2 is a longitudinal section of the blankshownin Fig. 1. Fig. 4isa side elevation of apartly-formed knife or analogousimplement produced immediately from the blank Fig. l by drop-forging.Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a table-knife made from he forging shownin Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sideview of the solid part of the blank; and Fig.'7 is a side view, partly in section, of the hollow part of said blank.V

In the drawings, A indicates the forgingblank, which is made,preferably, of steel, and it consists of a solid portion 3 and a hollowportion 5. The said part 5 of the blank A provides a chambered portionof sufficient length and diameter to form a solid-sided or seamlesshollow metallic handle, and the said part 3 provides material from whichto forge the implement or the blade of a knife. From the said blank,according to its size, (those herein represented being about thedimensions from which to form table-knives,) may be made carving, table,dessert, fruit, and other knives, and,-if desired, blanks may be made ofsuitable size for making swords having hollow metallic handles integralwith the blades thereof, thus securing the utmost strength anddurability and great economy in manufacture.

The said forging-blank is made from two pieces of metal, one solid, asshown in Fig. 6, and one tubular, having one end integrally closed, asshown in Fig.7. The solid piece 3 is preferably of cylindrical form, andis of such quality of steel as the blade of a knife or other implementshould be made from, in order that it may be capable of taking a propertemper and have the requisite strength and durability. The hollow part 5of the forging-blank, (shown in Fig. 7,) for convenience and economy ofmanufacturethat is to say, as to cost of material and for easy and rapiddrilling-is made, preferably, of soft steel, or what is sometimes calledhomogeneous metal, because it is cheaper than blade-steel and is of finegrain and soft, and when polished the surface is free from imperfectionsand is well adapted forplating. Said hollow part 5 may be made bycutting pieces of the properlength from a bar of said metal, preferablyof cylindrical form, and then drilling said pieces from one end nearlyto the other, as indicated in dotted line in Fig. 7, leaving a solidhead 7 thereon integral therewith. The preferable manner of producingsaid hollow handle-pieces 5 is to drill into the end of a bar of metalthe proper distance, and then cut off the drilled end beyond the drilledsocket therein, thus leaving a solid head 7 thereon, as aforesaid. Oneend of the said solid part 3 is then placed within the open end of thesaid tubular part 5 and said parts are integrally united by welding,thereby forming in effect a single piece of metal, the requisitehammering of the welded portions of said parts 3 and 5 reducing them attheir point of union to a uniform surface thereat, as shown in thedrawings, thereby producing a metallic forging-blank with a chambertherein, as shown, having an unbroken surface of sides and endsthat isto say, having no seam or visible welded joint, but producing in saidblank a chamber, as showrnwhose walls are absolutely impermeable.

The above-described forging-blank presents important features of noveltyand use fulness in relationto the construction of hol low-handledcutlery and otherimplements in which the handle consists ofaseparately-made tubular piece, as described, having oneintegrally-closed end, inasmuch as the treatment of such a tubularhandle-piece as heretofore practiced involves the expense of making aplug separately and of welding or brazingsaid plug in the open end ofsaid handle-piece and either drilling and tapping said plug to receive atang on the end of the blade or forming a tang on the plug to enter asocket in the adjoining end of the blade or of forming a plug part onthe end of the said blade orits bolster to enter said open end of thehandle part, which must be brazed thereto at considerable expense forwelding at this partiallyfinished stage of the handle is notpracticable, and itis well known that the formation of such a joint orjoints as are above described at the junction of the blade and handleresults in a large percentage of leakages thereat, which only showthemselves after the knife shall have been plated, thereby entailing avery considerable loss.

In View of the above description of the state I of the art as toplugging the open end of the handle part 5 it is clearly seen that theimprovement herein described, whereby by the simple and inexpensiveoperation of primarily welding the handle and blade-pieces together toform the forging-blank described, absolute prevention of leakage issecured, a large percentage of the cost of plugging the handle partissaved, and still another important advantage in the manufacture of theimplement or knife is gained-viz., the production in a forging-blankprimarily in one piece of the said two parts thereof, which in all thesubsequent operations are handled and operated upon as a single piece.This greatly facilitates the work thereon and insures perfect alignmentof handle and blade, and thus obviates all expense of straightening theknife after brazing the handle to the blade.

It will be observed that Figs. 1 and 2 (Fig. 1 having the chambertherein indicated by dotted lines thereon) illustrate the saidforging-blank in which the chambered portion thereof is of decreasingtapering form from one end toward the other for a portion of its length,while Fig. 3 represents a forgingblank of uniform diameter from end toend. The said forging-blank may be made of either of said forms,according to the ultimate shape that it is desired to produce in thefinished handlethat is to say, either a straight one or one of taperingform from the butt toward the blade of a knife or the implement.

When the blank having the above-mentioned tapered chambered portion isto be made, the said chambered part is preferably tapered by pressing orhammering before it is united to the solid portion 3, as abovedescribed.

The partially-forged knife illustrated in Fig. 4 is produced from theabove-described forging-blank by placing the said blank'(after suitablyheating the same)between properlyformed dies and subjecting the same tothe action of a drop-press in the well-known manner, and the balance ofthe blade from the bolster 0 toward the extremity of the blade ishammered in the usual way to produce said blade. The knife is thentrimmed and ground and polished, thereby finishingit in the usualmanner.

In placing the forging-blank between the dies of the drop-press, asaforesaid, to produce the partially-formed knife illustrated in Fig. 4that parts: of the solid portion of the blank near to the inner end ofthe chamber therein is placed, preferably, between those portions of thedrop-dies which form the neck 0 (see Fig. 4-) of the bolster of theknife. caution, however, pertains only to the production from said blankof knives having said bolster.

It is obvious that the operator will manipulate the blank A in relationto his dies according to the work and the requirements of the article tobe formed from said blank, the essential object being to produce aforgingblank for the above-referred to and other articles which shallpossess the requisite characteristics to permit of the formationtherefrom of a metallic hollow-handledimplement in which the handle andthe implement parts are integrally united prior to the last forgingoperations, thereby obviating entirely all expense incident to securinga hollow handle to a. blade or implement after the parts shall have beenforged, and obviating all possibility of leakage when the knives orimplements shall finally be plated and finished.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A forging-blank for the manufactureof hollow-handled cutlery and analogous articles, consisting of atubular piece of metal of which a handle is subsequently made, havingone end integrally closed, and a solid piece of crude metal of which ablade is subsequently This premade, welded by one end to the open end ofWILLIAM H. OHAPIN.

Witnesses:

G. M. CHAMBERLAIN, H. A. OHAPIN.

